


Night Changes

by peachykeenjellybean



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Badass Rey, Bakery, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Ben is Rey's familiar, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Familiars, Light Angst, Rey is a witch, Sex, Soft Ben Solo, Witchcraft, Witches, but she doesn't know it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:28:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24882316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachykeenjellybean/pseuds/peachykeenjellybean
Summary: Rey owns a bakery in a small town in New England. She's lonely. Everyday is the same. Part of her doesn't mind it. Then one day, a black cat she names Kylo wanders in and becomes her friend. She's not so lonely anymore. Little does she know who she is and who her new cat friend is.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 21
Kudos: 125
Collections: Reylo Halloween Collection





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi hi hi! Soooo I didn't mean to add another WIP to my list but whoops here we are. This prompt was too good not to do. I'm very excited about this story and I have most of it outlined and I know where I want to take it so I just need to write. Let me know what you think by leaving comments or kudos. let's get witchy! channel all your fall in New England spending a day in Salem and drinking hot apple cider vibes for this!

Rey leaned on the counter with her head in her hands tapping her fingers on her cheeks. The bakery had been dead for the most part of the afternoon. Her regulars came in to get their black coffees with only a teaspoon of sugar. She shuddered when she made it because she couldn’t understand why someone could stand drinking something so bitter. The cupcakes she decorated this morning still sat in the glass case staring at her and mocking her for putting so much effort into them. She sticks her tongue out and scrunches her nose up at them and for a second she swears she sees one of the tip slightly, making fun of her back. But she blinks her eyes and blames it on the lack of entertainment in the shop. She wouldn’t be surprised if she saw leaves rustle in and fly past her face. 

As if on queue, the flimsy front door of the bakery flies open and leaves come tumbling in. Rey snaps her head towards the door and runs to close it. The early fall air hits her bare arms and a chill runs through her body causing goosebumps to rise up on her skin. Before closing the door, she steps out onto the sidewalk and takes a look outside. Everything is quiet for the midafternoon. Everyone is at work. There are only a few people out on the street. There’s the man who she sees walk his dog across from her everyday with his hat turned up and a pipe hanging out of his mouth casually. There’s the old woman on the park bench in the town square nursing her cup of tea that Rey had poured for her over an hour ago and the little cruller that she got everyday and took the tiniest bites out of. She took in a deep breath of fresh air and turned around to walk back in the shop, grabbing the little broom to brush out the leaves that had flown in in haste. When the door was closed and she went to walk back behind the counter, getting ready to close, a flash of black whipped past her eyes and when she looked at the counter, she saw a black cat with shining fur and bright hazel eyes sitting upright and proper on the counter staring directly at her. 

She wasn’t scared of the cat. She oddly felt a sense of comfort with him being there. She walked towards him and the heels of her books clacked against the worn down tile of the bakery. The cat's tail swirled behind him as he sat on his paws. Rey reached her hand out for him to sniff then he instinctively nuzzled into her palm and closed his eyes when he did. She scratched his chin and in between his ears as she heard him start to purr and purr deep in his throat. 

“What a sweet kitty. Where did you come from?” She looks all over around his neck for a collar but finds none. “Who do you belong to?” The cat looks up at her and keeps purring. 

~

After she cleans up and gets ready to close the shop for the night, the cat leaves and walks down the street and into an alley. 

The next morning, when she’s opening the bakery, the cat is waiting for her by the front door. Sitting on his legs with his paws posed in front of him like she had found him the day before on the counter. He follows her inside when she opens the door and jumps up on the glass case that houses all the pastries. 

“Are you hungry?” She asks knowing that she won’t get a response. She takes out a little teacup from the top shelf and fills it with warmed milk and places it on the ground. The cat lapped it up quickly and Rey leaned back on the bakery case with her arms folded watching him drink. 

“If we’re going to be friends I think you need a name.” She said. “I think I’m going to call you…Kylo.” It was the first name that came to the tip of her tongue. Kylo. After the brooding prince from her favorite sinful romance novel. 

Kylo. 

It feels right. And when she says it, the cat's ears perk up and he looks at her with those hazel eyes warmed and the black slits down the middle looking less menacing and almost human like. She leans down to scratch his ears and cup his face. He closes his eyes and moves in closer to her at the contact. He likes his new name, she thinks. 

“Well, hello, Kylo, I’m Rey.” She says to the cat with a warm smile.

~

Rey spent her morning making a fresh batch of cookies. She added the packets of vanilla pudding and brown sugar in with vanilla extract along with the flour and sugar and mixed it all by hand. Her arm ached by the time she put it the first few trays in the oven but the smell that filled the bakery more than enough made up for it. Even Kylo stood next to her with what she swore was a smile on his little cat lips making his whiskers turn up. 

When the oven timer goes off to let her know that the cookies are ready, Rey pulls the tray out and lets them cool by the window in the kitchen in the brisk morning air. She makes a coffee for herself and peels a cookie off of the tray for breakfast. It’s gooey and almost melts in her hand leaving smears of chocolate on her palm that she licks off. 

Kylo never leaves her side the whole morning. When her first customer walks in, she tells him to hide behind the counter so that he isn’t caught and she isn’t yelled at by the older woman who’d probably complain that she found a cat hair in her croissant to get it for free. He complied and sat by her feet behind the counter purring only loud enough for her to hear. 

When the woman left, another customer walked in and Rey felt her heart fall. It was Snoke. Her worst regular. He always demands the freshest and hottest pot of black coffee (and doesn’t ask for it nicely) and would sit at the table by the window sipping it incessantly while reading the Wall Street Journal. Rey always bites her tongue when he’s around. Especially after the one morning where he didn’t like the coffee she freshly brewed up just for him and he nearly threw it at her but somehow when she stuck her hand out in defense to block it, the hot coffee flew back to him and stained his trousers. She held back laughter and looked at her hand and thought how odd that was. 

When Snoke walked in today, Rey took in a breath and plastered a fake courteous smile on her face hoping that he would be in and out quickly and that she could go about her day peacefully without any harm from him. If she wasn’t in the shop alone, like she is most days, she would retreat to the back and make someone else deal with him but she can’t. Kylo walks between her legs, fishing in and out, and rubs against her ankles and calves; reminding her he’s still there and she feels a sense of comfort from that. The tense feeling of Snoke’s presence in the bakery feels a bit muted now when she feels Kylo. 

She starts to make his coffee before he even reaches the counter since she knows what he’s going to ask for. When he comes up to her, he starts shaking his head when she tells him that his usual will be ready soon. 

“Did I ask for that?” He asks her condescendly. 

“No, you didn’t. But, I figured you come in here every other day and order the same thing. I thought I’d save you the trouble of asking.” Her voice is quiet and little. She feels like shrinking already. She hates this. She hates him. 

“Well, I don’t want that today. I actually already had my morning coffee. If you would’ve just waited like you’re supposed to do then you would’ve known that I actually want a pot of black tea today. I want it strong.” 

Rey hurries away and starts to make the pot of tea for him. She bites her tongue so hard she can taste the bitter and metallic hint of blood. When the pot starts whistling, she brings it over to his table and places it on a pot holder with an empty teacup and pours. 

She walks away as he takes his first sip and she hasn’t even reached the counter yet when he’s already yelling. 

“I asked for this to be strong. This is the weakest cup of fucking tea. My grandmother could’ve made it stronger.” 

“Sorry, sir, I’ll make it again.”

“Yes, you will. Do better. I’m not paying for that.” He wipes away the dribble of tea that’s coming down from his chin with a disgusted look on his face. As Rey turns around to go back behind the counter to make another pot begrudgingly, she feels Kylo twist and rub against her legs as he launches himself towards Snoke. When she turns she sees Kylo clawing onto Snoke’s chest and shoulders while Snoke tries to get him off. Kylo is hissing the whole time. He sounds so mean and feral. Kylo’s claws detach from Snoke’s sweater and he lands on the floor on his feet and growls at Snoke with his sharp teeth bared. “That cat is a health code violation,” He grunts as he grabs his things and starts to walk out the door, “I’ll be contacting the authorities about this and you’ve just lost a patron.” And he’s gone and Rey has never felt so much relief. 

She bends down to the floor to meet Kylo as she picks him up to hold him close to her chest. “Were you protecting me, sweet boy?” He purrs into her. “Thank you for that. But, you do know I can fight my own battles, right?” She thinks for a moment she sees Kylo nod his little head. She puts him back down on the floor and she waves her hand a moment over the spilled tea on the floor and the absolute mess that Snoke made out of frustration that she has to clean up after him, but she’s so grateful he’s gone, and when she looks up, the mess is gone. It vanished suddenly. The teapot is back in its spot behind the counter. The table is void of crumbs from his muffin he had started to eat. The chair is pushed in. Everything is clean. Cleaner than when she opened this morning. How odd. Did she just black out and clean up in a flurry? 

She’s losing it. She must be going absolutely mad. First she thinks about the cupcakes mocking her and then the cat nodding and smiling and now she can’t remember cleaning up a mess. 

~

For the next few weeks, every night she closes the bakery, Kylo follows her out and then walks down an alley when they part and then he meets her by the front door every morning where he follows her inside and she gives him a teacup of warm milk. 

She starts to look forward to seeing him. She enjoys his company throughout the day. Especially on days when the bakery is really dead and he’s the only one there for her to talk to. He’s the perfect listener. He sits on the counter and stares at her and purrs or meows at the right moments. He tilts his head when she asks a question she knows will go unanswered. 

They form a little bond. It warms Rey’s heart when she thinks about it. She’d felt so lonely before this black cat with hazel eyes had wandered into her bakery. 

She’s a little concerned when she walks up to the front door one Monday morning and Kylo isn’t there in his usual spot by the door. She looks around and wanders to his usual alley but he’s nowhere. She huffs as she unlocks the door and the keys dangle in the lock and starts to go about her morning. She makes her cookies and she makes a pot of coffee. She bakes muffins and bread and a cake that someone had ordered to be picked up later in the day. She had hoped that maybe Kylo was lazing somewhere and would wander in later but he didn’t. She was back to feeling that same unwanted lonely feel that she had grown so accustomed to before him. 

As she was wiping down the counter and putting the pastries away, she heard the bells at the top of the front door jingle. “We’re closing for the night!” She yelled at whoever was walking in. They obviously weren’t listening to her because she still heard the sounds of their shoes against the floor walking towards her. She picked her head up to face them with an annoyed expression and started to speak but she was cut off. 

“Sorry, I was just hoping I could grab a quick cup of coffee if you have any left.” His voice was deep and husky and when she looked up at him her eyes met his chest. His large and brooding chest clad in a black wool sweater. She made herself look up to his face and the eyes she was met with looked so familiar but she couldn’t place them. She felt comfortable looking at him. Like she’s met him before. Perhaps in another life. Maybe in this one? 

She smiles at him and bites her lip. “I have some left. Just one cup to go?” She asks and he nods as she starts to make him his coffee. 

Their hands brush when she hands it to him and she feels a tingle of a spark shoot through her fingertips and up her arm and wrap around her neck in warmth. She gasps and he smiles down at her with those eyes. Those hazel eyes. 

She pouts slightly when he lets go and starts walking backwards towards the door. His gaze not leaving hers. 

“Thank you, Rey.” He says quietly but ardently and opens the door to walk out and down the sidewalk. 

She takes a minute when he’s gone to catch the breath she didn’t realize she was holding and then wonders how he could possibly have known her name. She runs out of the shop and stands on the sidewalk looking in the direction that she saw him go in but he’s nowhere. He seemed to have vanished. Maybe she made him up. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had so much fun writing this chapter and i'm super proud of the self love smut in this chapter so i hope you like it!!!!! this chapter is a lil short but it'll make up for it in fun i promise!!!! this is unbeta'd sooo sorry for any mistakes or if anything is inconsistent. let me know what you think by leaving comments or kudos. follow me on [ twitter](https://twitter.com/darthjessa) :)

He came into the bakery every other day that week and almost every day the next. Each time he’d order the same thing. A plain cup of coffee. No cream. No sugar. Just black and bitter. Always at the end of the day right before it was time for her to close. She started to leave a bit in the pot for him. It became a little routine. He’d come in with his dark almost black hair blown and wavy from the autumn wind and she’d be behind the counter, pretending to be doing something so that he wouldn’t notice she’d be waiting for him all day. Expecting him. Excited. 

She felt a little pathetic. Especially when she’d go home and still be thinking about him. Him. The man with the beautiful face and name she doesn’t know. She thinks about the smile he gives her every time he comes in as she walks home. It’s a little crooked but his eyes crinkle at the corners when he does it and she feels her fingertips become numb as she taps her thigh to focus on something other than melting from the pure power of that smile. 

Pure. 

That’s how she’d describe the smile and him. 

Pure. 

He probably has a wholesome and pure name too. Will, Henry, Jude, Charlie. Something simple that sticks. Something that makes you think of someone you already know and immediately replace the image when you know him. She says each of those names over as she looks up at the moon. They roll off her tongue but none of them  _ feel  _ right. 

When she gets home, she leaves her stained white Converse at the door and hangs up her jean jacket and bag on the hook. She can smell the diffuser she set to come on right before she walked in the door. She turns on the lights. Soft lights. A lamp in the corner, the twinkle lights she has bordering her front window frame. Nothing too bright or artificial. She feels cozy. She feels warm. She feels content. 

She walks into the bathroom a little quickly as her bare feet can feel the cold on the black and white circular tiles. Grabbing the faucet, she turns on the water to run a hot bath. She likes the water so scalding that she’s almost at the point of sweating. The hotter the better. She turns it to its hottest setting as she sits on the edge and waits for it to fill and pours in baby pink salts and a bit of lavender scented oil. She closes her eyes and smells it all. 

When she peels off her clothes it feels like weights from the day have been lifted off of her shoulders. Her jeans are the lunch time rush where she couldn’t help any customers fast enough. Her sweater is her oven that wouldn’t start this morning when she was trying a new cupcake recipe. Her bra and underwear are...him. Him, him, him. She really can’t get him out of her mind and their only interaction has been him asking her for a cup of coffee. He hasn’t even asked lately because she just knows and hands it to him. He always says thank you politely and smiles that goddamn smile she's thinking about again before he walks out the door and she watches him leave and walk down the street. 

She sighs as she peels off her underwear and pulls down the straps of her bralette and they puddle at her feet with the rest of her clothes. She’ll deal with them later. Right now, she just needs this. She just wants this. 

Stepping into the water, she instantly feels everything bad and worrying drift away down the drain. She relaxes into the tub with her head resting over the edge and her feet play with the faucet. She huffs out hot air and drifts lower and further into the water until her chin hits it and she closes her eyes just before she’s completely submerged under with her hair floating around her like a mermaid. She opens her eyes for a moment under the water and stares up at the bathroom ceiling. 

Everything is blurred and there’s no sound. It’s peaceful and calming but there’s something about it that’s unnerving. It’s too quiet. Too peaceful. Suddenly her vision becomes clear and there’s a spark through her fingers and really she can’t breathe. She panics and jolts up out of the water. Gasping for a breath. 

She lays her head back again on the rim of the tub and closes her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. Her hands that were whiteknuckled on the edges of the tub loosen their grip and fall into the water on the sides of her thighs. She brushes her fingertips against her skin and feels the soft ripples under the water. As she leans back against the tub, her breasts peak slightly over the waterline and her nipples start to pebble at the sudden feeling of cool air. She takes a deep breath and moves her legs so that they’re opened wider; as wide as she can open her legs against the sides of the tub. 

Rey lifts her hips up and slides her left hand in between her legs, slowly caressing the soft and warm skin at the inside of her thighs. The water splashes as she moves her hand slowly in between her legs and at her center. She points her toes when she runs two fingers through her wet folds and discovers truly how wet she was. 

From what? 

Thinking about him. The nameless handsome man. She quickly retreats and lays her hands over her chest. She shudders when her palms graze over her nipples which are now taut and sensitive. She gasps and pauses for a moment, letting the water calm itself around her from all her moving around. The little waves cause a splash of water to fall over the edge of the tub and onto the tile. It startles her a bit and she sits up, looking at her surroundings. The bathroom door is closed despite the fact that she lives alone and the only lights she has on in the bathroom are the few candles she lit. 

She settles herself back and rests and closes her eyes. Her hands wander back to that spot in between her thighs and again and this time there’s no hesitation as she dips the tips of her fingers into the slick wetness. She groans deeply as she arches her back at the contact.

Rey swirls her fingers around herself with one hand. Moving around her clit that’s now hard and oh so sensitive. She’s throbbing and the water somewhat soothes. The little ripples and currents and waves in the water move over her body and she writes in it and only adds to the feeling. She almost feels like she’s wrapped in someone’s arms. His arms, maybe. She wishes. 

_ “Fuck,”  _ she whimpers, moving her fingers slowly inside of herself, and picturing that it’s actually his hands. His fingers that she looks at every other day when their hands brush and she hands him his coffee. She thinks about his arms too. Straining so tightly against his sweaters and Oxford shirts he wears. “Yes, yes, yes.” She’s panting. 

She’s panting and shaking and writhing. She’s fucking herself on her own hand. The other hand is  _ squeezing  _ her breasts. Moving back and forth between them, pulling with need and her head thrown back with her mouth open. 

She rubs her clit hysterically under the water and lifts one of her legs up and hooks it over the tub giving her more room to and more access to herself. 

She’s gasping into the darkness of the bathroom. Only the sound of the water sloshing around her and the light of the candles to hear it. 

She can’t help but think about him as she swirls her fingertip around her little nub. Oh, how she wishes it was his hands grabbing her right now. His hands pulling at her hard nipple. His hands rubbing her core. His fingers  _ inside _ of her. 

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” She moans in time with the drip of the faucet. 

Now she has both legs dangling over the edge. Her calves and thighs pressed against the white porcelain. 

She can feel it. The tension building so tightly and warm right at the center of her. 

Then it snaps. Like a fucking rubber band against hot skin. She cranes her neck up and rolls her head back and  _ wails  _ as she comes and she sees sparkles behind her eyes. 

She thinks about  _ him  _ when she comes. She feels bad about it. But, she doesn’t really. Part of her feels bad about coming to the thought of a random man who doesn’t even know he’s the current subject of her dirtiest fantasies. But then again, it’s not like she knows him. She doesn’t even know his name after all. 

His name.

She wished she knew it. So she could’ve screamed it. 

He must have a pure name. A name so pure it makes her feel bad again for what she just did thinking about him. This poor random and beautiful man. She rolls her eyes and huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest, squeezing her breasts and brushing her nipples that are already pebbling again thinking and thinking and thinking about  _ him.  _ Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She throws her head back against the back of the tub and as she does the flames of the candles rise and as Rey picks her head up and starts to notice, her breathing caught in her throat and brows furrowed in confusion, the flames shorten as fast as they rose. As if it never happened. 

Rey’s cheeks flush out of embarrassment and confusion and weeriness as she groans and sinks back into the water that’s now cold. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yayayay for a fun little witchy update! i'm starting to think of more of a plot for this than i was originally anticipating so let's see where this goes? enjoy!

Weird things kept happening to Rey over the next week. Weird little things. Things that made her question if they had actually just happened or if her mind was playing tricks on her or she just hadn’t slept enough the night before or she worked too long in the bakery. When she’d lay in bed and forgot to turn the lights off, they’d just shut off when she’d think about it. Almost as if they had been off the whole time. Or, when she makes her coffee in the morning and drops a spoon in to stir her cream and sugar the spoon starts spinning itself. When she sees it she drops the new recipe she’s looking at for lemon cookies and grabs the spoon and when she does it stings her hand for a second then goes away and stops. She rubs her eyes and quickly dismisses it and moves on to bake a batch of cupcakes. 

She hasn’t seen Kylo in weeks and she worries about him. She worries if he’s gone a while without having something to eat or a warm place to sleep. She thinks about how she should’ve offered for him to stay here or maybe she should’ve brought him home with her. She gulps her coffee and shakes her head as the door to the bakery swings open with her first customer of the day. It’s the little older woman who usually comes in for tea at the end of the day. She takes a seat at one of the tables by the window.

“Hi, Maz. You’re in early today.” Rey says as she brings her a hot pot of tea and places it down on the table on the pot holder. 

“Oh, am I?” Maz looks up at Rey and her eyes behind her large round glasses are sparkling. Rey never really looked at her eyes. She usually just served her her tea and maybe made some small talk while it was brewing but there were no few seconds of silence like this where they were really looking at each other. When she looks at her, Rey has this strange feeling through her body like goosebumps when she’s cold or like a breeze just blew through the shop. But she breaks eye contact and looks up at the door and it’s closed shut and she looks down at her arm and pulls up the sleeve of her sweater and there was nothing. She ran her fingers across her skin and it was smooth as ever. “I just couldn’t wait today for some of your raspberry juniper tea.” Maz’s voice brought Rey’s eyes back to her gaze as she stirred in honey and took a sip of the tea that had steam reaching it’s way out of the cup until it hit Maz’s mouth. 

Maz sat by the window for hours. She would stare at the bottom of her tea cup when she’d finish a cup and mumble to herself. Then she’d pour another cup and do the same thing until the pot was empty. Rey brought her over a berry scone and said it was on the house. Maz accepted it and sipped the last cup. 

Rey really didn’t want Maz to finish that last of tea because she knew that once Maz finished it she would be gone and Rey would be alone again. She didn’t notice how lonely she had felt before Kylo had started to visit her and even the beautiful stranger who would come in for a cup of coffee. She’d grown accustomed to his company even if it were for a few brief minutes while she made his coffee. She felt comfortable around him. Now that she thinks about it, he hadn’t come by in the past few days. Now she was missing Kylo and the man. Wondering and worried about them. 

She shook her head. That was so silly. She was worried about people and animals she didn’t even know. But- but- but- there had been something about them that had made her feel connected to someone in a way she hadn’t felt before. It was in the way that the man smiled and his auburn eyes would glow and the way that Kylo would rub the top of his head against her leg when she’d wander around the bakery busying herself. Both a constant piece of support that wasn’t there anymore. 

When Maz placed the cup down, Rey was already by her side cleaning up the dishes and taking the pot away. Before Rey could turn around to head back to the counter, Rey felt Maz reach for and grab her wrist and she felt that  _ feeling  _ again that she couldn’t describe. When Rey looked up at Maz her eyes were clear and her thick and round glasses were off and she was looking at Rey directly. So directly Rey could  _ feel  _ the way Maz was looking at her only adding to that odd feeling throughout her body even more. Rey gasped and held her breath. 

“Something is coming, child. You need to be prepared.” Maz spoke softly. Whispering as if she were telling Rey a secret that no one else could hear even though they were the only ones in the shop. 

“What’s coming? What do I need to prepare? How do I prepare?” Rey’s words came out a little frustrated. But not confused. 

“Someone will help you. Trust him.” And with those words Maz let go of Rey’s wrist and walked out of the shop and down the street towards the park. Rey stood there for a moment and remembered to breathe and it came in short and sharp almost as if she forgot how. 

Trust  _ him,  _ she repeated Maz’s words in her head. Him? Who would he be and what would he do to help her prepare? And prepare for what? What was coming for her? 

Strangely, she’s not scared or confused not knowing what was to come. She didn’t have any idea what Maz was talking about but somehow, and she didn’t know where this part of her came from, but she trusted her and she knew she should listen. She should wait and she should listen. 

He will help her, Maz said in so few words. She needs to trust him- whoever he may be. 

~

That night, when Rey got home after a long day at the bakery, she started to make dinner for herself as she swayed in the kitchen while Stevie Nicks played softly. Her bare feet stuck to the linoleum as she moved and sang along. 

_ Now here you go again _

_ You say you want your freedom _

_ Well, who am I to keep you down _

_ It's only right that you should _

_ Play the way you feel it _

_ But listen carefully _

_ To the sound of your loneliness _

_ Like a heartbeat drives you mad _

_ In the stillness of remembering what you had _

_ And what you lost _

_ And what you had _

_ And what you lost _

She chopped her garlic and threw it in the pan as it sizzled with spots of hot oil splashing up, telling her the pan was too hot. She sliced potatoes and threw them in with the garlic and other spices. While the potatoes hiss Rey throws both of her hands up above her head and closes her eyes as she moves with the song. The lyrics really drive themselves into her brain but she lets those feelings out by saying them outloud. The sound of her loneliness goes away as the words make their way out of her mouth. Her heartbeat is driving her mad but she loves it. She feels so alive. She doesn’t feel like she’s lost or what she’s had. She forgets for a second about those feelings of unease and weariness that accompanied the loneliness that she knew so well. She rolls her wrists in the air and her fingers curl up towards the ceiling. Feeling the tension in the void breaking. 

When her eyes are closed she doesn’t notice the lights in her kitchen start to flicker to the rhythm of the song and the beat of her dance. 

Her eyes flash open when she hears a faint scratch at her front door. So faint she’s honestly surprised she heard it. It felt more like instinct. The scratching continued until she stood in front of the closed door. Then it stopped and she stood there for a moment before opening it and when she did, a black cat with bright hazel eyes was standing there on her front porch with his tail whipping around him playfully. 

_ Kylo.  _

She knew it was him. She said his name in a breath and bent down to pick him up and held in tight to her chest. He nuzzled under her chin and instantly started purring. 

“Where have you been? I was so worried.” He meowed quietly and that was answer enough for her. “Well, you’re here and I’m not letting you go anywhere.”

It was a little selfish, she thought. Keeping him so close when he didn’t belong to her. She didn’t know if he did belong to anyone. But it felt so right having him here. 

She kept him in her arms as she sautéed the potatoes in the bake and checked her chicken roasting in the oven. He purred the whole time. 

When her dinner was made and she sat down at her little kitchen table, she poured a little bowl of milk for him along with a few pieces of her chicken she happily shares with him. They eat in a pure and comfortable silence. The only sound coming from the soft hum speaker with Stevie Nicks voice bellowing. 

She runs a bath when the dishes are washed and clean. Kylo lays on the closed toilet set with his long legs spread behind him and his front paws tucked under him. She leans her head back against the wall and stares at him as she hears him purr with closed eyes. He opens them suddenly and they're wide. So wide that she can’t see the hazel anymore just blackness with his ears perked up and alert. He's standing now and his back is up and arched. Ready to jump at something. Rey splashes and sits up. 

“What is it?” She asks. 

He looks at her and his eyes and ears soften and he lays back down on the seat as if nothing ever happened. 

“Silly cat.” She laughs with a little unease but tries to brush it off. Maybe he just thought he heard something. Maybe he saw a spider or a ball of dust floating by. Silly cat. Silly, silly cat. 

When she laid in bed for the night- with the lights already turned off- Kylo laid next to her. They stare at each other in the darkness with the light of the full moon peering in through the window Rey keeps unshaded. She likes to wake up in the morning with natural light despite the fact that sometimes she has to wake earlier than the sun to open the bakery. Kylo’s amber eyes are glowing as they do in the dark and she feels his tail move with her heartbeat and in rhythm with his purring as she whispers a “Good night,” to him and drifts off to sleep. 

That night she dreams of the stranger from the bakery. She dreams they’re laying in a field of orange poppies. Her head is next to his shoulder. The sun warms her face and cheek just enough. She feels his hand brush against her jaw and over her lips, parting them just slightly. She hums out of happiness and feels content and secure. She slowly turns her head up to look at him and when she does she’s struck by his eyes. They look so familiar. Amber and golden and brown and green. The same eyes as….

_ Kylo. _

Then all of a sudden the sun has vanished and she’s cold. Dark, dark grey clouds cover the sky and she has goosebumps covering her arms. She shivers in her sundress and the stranger pulls her closer. His touch radiates that same sense of comfort and she pushes herself further against him to feel it wrap around her. She shakes her head and closes her eyes and tries to pull herself out of the dream. 

When she wakes up, the sun is just starting to set and she’s already late to open the shop. She feels...odd. There’s a weight around her. An arm draped over her torso. She bites her tongue to stop the scream from coming out of her throat. This is possibly the worst thing she could’ve ever woken up to living alone. A strange man in her bed covered in only a sheet. 

As gently as she possibly can she lifts his hand off of her and gets up from the bed and grabs the baseball bat she keeps hidden underneath the bed and waits for a second while he opens his eyes. When she’s walked as far away from him as she can in the bedroom, she stares at his face and immediately recognizes him. It’s the handsome stranger with long dark hair who always asks for a cup of black coffee. 

He’s startled when he opens his eyes fully and realizes where he is. He grabs the sheet and sits up on the bed before throwing his hands up at her in surrender. She still holds the bat up to him in defense. 

“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” She demands, seething through her teeth. 

“Rey,” There he goes again saying her name. 

She cuts him off before he can finish. “And how do you know my name?”

“I can explain everything. Please, just let me explain.” He’s almost pleading with her. She bites her lip and looks at him. He’s so vulnerable sitting there naked with only the sheet covering her. Really, how much harm can he cause her? If he wanted to hurt her, he probably would’ve done it by now. Why wait? She puts the bat down but still keeps it in her hand and crosses her arms over her chest. She raises her eyebrows and nods as if giving him permission to go on. 


End file.
